Next year could be declared as a Year of Chess in Ukraine, according to the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. President of FIDE also held talks with the mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko.
"The Chess Federation of Ukraine has submitted a bid to host the match and paid the relevant contribution of 100 thousand US Dollars. The contract would be signed in a day or two”, said Ilyumzhinov. “Moreover, the following year may be declared as a Year of Chess in the country, because Ukraine will hold several major chess events. This proposal was supported by Boris Lozhkin (the head of the presidential administration of Ukraine and the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the match between Muzychuk and Yifan- Ed.). "
Earlier, at the meeting between Klitschko and the President of FIDE they have agreed that one of the stages of FIDE Women's Grand Prix will be held in Kiev in the following year (presumably, in October). "During my next visit, we plan to hold a meeting between the FIDE management and the Ministry of Education of Ukraine. We will discuss the possibility of introducing chess into the school curriculum. The mayor's officials has already began active work on the introduction of chess in the schools, which are more than 500 in Kiev. So far, the first phase of this initiation will be on an optional basis. FIDE will have to provide the necessary technical and methodological support”, said Ilyumzhinov.
